Andros Townsend has revealed Queens Park Rangers started plotting how they could beat Manchester United just minutes after their demoralising defeat at Swansea.

Rangers face the Premier League leaders on Saturday with their top-flight status in increasing danger.

Having won just twice in the Premier League this season, they are seven points adrift of safety with 12 games remaining.

Yet Townsend, who has impressed in his first two matches since joining on loan from Tottenham until the end of the season, retains a strong belief that Rangers can stay up, and recalls their last-day escape from relegation last term as motivation.

The winger (above) told Standard Sport: “In the dressing room after we’d lost 4-1 at Swansea two weeks ago, we were still saying, ‘We can beat United.’

“There is no fear there. Before I arrived, QPR beat Chelsea and drew with Manchester City, so why not? We have to think we can go in there and win the match.

“Everyone wrote off QPR last season and look what happened, so why not do it again? I followed their games before I came here and they’ve got some world-class players, so I could never understand why they were in this position.

“The manager [Harry Redknapp] gave me my debut at Tottenham, so he knows me well and he wants me to go and express myself and create chances for the team.”

On his first Premier League start, Townsend, 21, was named man of the match in the 0-0 draw against Norwich on February 2 after a display full of verve. He is one of the less experienced members of a squad containing players like goalkeeper Julio Cesar, who won the Champions League with Inter Milan, and midfielder Esteban Granero, who has played for Real Madrid.

Chris Samba, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Bobby Zamora have also played in the top flight for a number of seasons but Townsend’s pace and skill should be vital for a side who have become more solid in defence but have struggled to create enough opportunities to score.

The England Under-21 international admitted: “Although I never doubted myself, maybe some people had doubts about whether I could cut it in this division. The first game eased the pressure and I thought, ‘I can play at this level.’ Now, I have the confidence to take that into the remaining games because I know what I’m capable of doing.

“When you share a dressing room with certain players, you might be a bit in awe at first but you can’t be like that. Look at Julio Cesar and Granero, what they have done and who they have played for. But right now, we’re all trying to achieve the same thing.

“There are plenty of people here who have done a lot in their careers but the important thing is that they are all humble guys. There are no ‘big-time’ people here.”